Posts Tagged ‘hate crimes law’

The mayor of Lancaster, California, has apologized for pro-Christian comments he made recently before a group of pastors. 

Mayor R. Rex Parris said in his address that Lancaster was “growing a Christian community,” and after controversy developed he issued an apology. City Councilwoman Sherry Marquez posted on Facebook comments about a Muslim honor killing on the East Coast, thought better about it, and pulled the comments an hour and a half later. She has also apologized.
 
The Antelope Valley Human Relations Task Force responded and heard from community residents Monday night. Task Force chairman Darren Parker tells OneNewsNow that hate crimes charges against Parris and Marquez will not be sought. Click here to read more.

by Ken Silva
Apprising Ministries

Apprising Ministries has been covering the growing gay agenda within the church visible for the past year. It’s simply beyond question that it is causing major problems in the dying mainline denominations who long ago kicked out Sola Scriptura in favor of highly subjective Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism, which is actually a new form of Gnosticism. 

Through the evil influence of the the egregiously ecumenical Emerging Church aka Emergent Church—morphing into Emergence Christianity (EC)—which is a cult of postliberalism now firmly within mainstream evangelicalism—this issue is also crossing over as you can see in Growing Gay Agenda In Evangelicalism and Emerging Church And Adele Sakler TransFORM Gay Agenda In Evangelicalism.

Benefiting from wider acceptance within the EC we’re now seeing those like gay affirming “pastor” Jay Bakker  and “queer inclusive” ELCA “pastor” Nadia Bolz-Weber gaining louder voices as these rebels against the final authority of God’s Word try to convince us that having sexual relations with another of the same sex i.e homosexuality is fine for the regenerated Christian.

And this is precisely why the Lord moved me a while ago to begin covering this issue; with Holy Scripture we can light up the night sky so you can see the position of enemy forces, for only those who would reject Sola Scriptura like ELCA Bishop Mark Hanson Who Say The Bible Is Not The Final Authority. This is what to the tragic vote I covered in ELCA And Homosexuality.

What you need to understand here is that those who affirm that those unrepentant in their practice of the sinful and deviant lifestyle of homosexuality love to portray themselves as being so loving and tolerant; however, that façade quickly crumbles the moment you disagree with them. And let’s not forget here that the disageement is over what God has clearly said in the Bible. Click here to read the rest of this story.

Related Story:

Today is World AIDS Day – I Am Free From Homosexuality While Homosexual Activists Continue To Glorify The Sin That is Leading Cause of AIDS in U. S. by James Hartline

CHICAGO - The presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is suggesting that the Bible isn’t the last word on homosexuality.

In a town hall meeting Sunday, Bishop Mark Hanson said, “the understanding we have of homosexuality today does not seem to be reflected at all in the context of the biblical writers.” Therefore, he said, Lutherans should consider more modern views on sexual orientation.

At its churchwide convention in August, the ELCA lifted its ban on partnered gay and lesbian clergy, prompting some traditional congregations to withhold funds and begin forming a separate denomination.

But Hanson insisted the ELCA can accommodate both views. In his words, “God is still speaking to us.”

 He also suggests that more homosexual-friendly policies may help the denomination grow. Click here to continue reading.

by Star Parker
WorldNet Daily

President Obama has signed into law the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Actually, he signed into law the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act tacked onto which was the hate-crimes legislation.

Sen. Harry Reid, our brave Democratic majority leader, slipped the hate-crimes bill into the defense authorization bill to avoid having to have our senators consider the controversial hate-crimes legislation on its own.

It’s for good reason that our Democratic legislators wanted to hide under a rock while passing this terrible piece of legislation. It may help them with the far-left wing of their party. But weakening and damaging our country is not something to be proud of. And that is exactly what this new hate-crimes law does.

The bill adds on extra penalties to violent crimes when it is deemed they were motivated by gender, sexual orientation or disabilities. It’s the first major expansion of hate-crimes legislation originally passed in 1968, targeted then to crimes aimed at race, color, religion and national origin.

After signing this new law, President Obama celebrated it by saying that in this nation we should “embrace our differences.” Click here to continue reading.

Related Articles:
Hate Crimes Bill Passes House – Christian Leaders Partly to Blame

Special Note From Lighthouse Trails:We do not believe any person should be treated with hateful or cruel behavior. However, we also do not believe that hate crime legislation is necessary or legitimate because there are already laws prohibiting the abuse and/or violence against any person.

“Hate Crimes Bill Passes House – Christian Leaders Partly to Blame”

On Wednesday, HR 1913 (“Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009″) passed in the US House of Representatives with a vote of 249-175. According to one report, “The bill is now headed for the Senate, which Obama urged to work with his administration to ‘finalize this bill and to take swift action.’”1

If this legislation is passed by the Senate (and then signed by Obama into law, which he has promised to do quickly), this broadened hate-crime law could ultimately affect Christians who preach, teach, or report that the homosexual lifestyle is prohibited according to Scripture. One report states: “Similar laws have been used to prosecute religious speech in the U.S. and abroad.2 In a WorldNetDaily report, it says that even pedophiles could receive special protection if this bill becomes law.3 According to the text in HR1913, penalties for breaking this law would be severe–from 10 years up to life in prison. While wording in HR1913 is somewhat vague, amendments could be added to strengthen and further define how this law is implemented. Plus, because of its vagueness, Supreme Court judges may be able to further broaden the scope of the law through their own interpretations of it.

Keep in mind that this bill will not only give special rights to homosexuals, it has the potential to bring restrictions to Christians who reject the idea that other religions are valid ways to God.

Ironically, and in an indirect manner, many Christian organizations who are concerned about hate crime legislation have been partly responsible for this current legislation passing. How so? The legislation is passing because of the new administration and a supportive Congress. And as we have stated in previous articles, Lighthouse Trails believes it was the emerging church segment of voters who helped bring in this present White House administration. Now, Christian organizations and leaders who have helped to propel contemplative spirituality (i.e. spiritual formation) have, inadvertently helped to propel the emerging church. When people begin to incorporate mantra-type prayer and other contemplative spiritual disciplines, over time their spiritual affinities change and many become interspiritual, which is what the emerging church is all about. Thus, if someone is promoting contemplative spirituality, they are promoting the emerging model. The two terms are virtually synonymous. So while Christian organizations are alarmed about the hate crime law (which they should be because it is indeed disturbing), they have and continue to fuel the momentum merely by their promotion of contemplative spirituality.

When it comes to the emerging church, Christian leaders seem to lack understanding and discernment. Some books and many articles have now been written about the emerging church, and interestingly, the majority of them lack the most important element–the emerging church is a conduit for mysticism and is heading right into the arms of a universal interfaith church that is panentheistic (God in all) by its very nature.

Many feel that the real problems with the emerging church are centered around methodology (e.g., how much lighting to have, where to hold church services, and what to wear while attending them, etc.). Such distraction from the true concerns is like telling a neighbor that his dog is tearing up the garden when his house is burning down and his children are inside.

The emerging church is fundamentally mystical as can easily be seen by the leaders who feed the emerging movement a steady diet of contemplative spirituality. Leonard Sweet, one of the emerging church movement’s most prolific leaders (and a co-worker in ministry with Rick Warren) explains the role of mysticism in the emerging church:

Mysticism, once cast to the sidelines of the Christian tradition, is now situated in postmodernist culture near the center…. In the words of one of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century, Jesuit philosopher of religion/dogmatist Karl Rahner, “The Christian of tomorrow will be a mystic, one who has experienced something, or he will be nothing.” [Mysticism] is metaphysics arrived at through mindbody experiences. Mysticism begins in experience; it ends in theology. (p. 160, A Time of Departing–*see reference below)

If indeed the present administration came into power by picking up the large emerging church sector of voters, then a lot of Christian leaders are responsible for what is taking place today. For instance, Rick Warren, perhaps the most influential Christian leader today, has been and continues to be one of the strongest proponents of the emerging church movement and the contemplative prayer movement as well (see our research site for documentation).

What is needed here is for Christian leaders of ministries, churches, organizations, and schools, to repent for misleading many toward a deceptive spirituality that will not lead them into a relationship with the God of the Bible through faith in Jesus Christ by grace but will instead fulfill Karl Rahner’s words that they will be mystics or they will be nothing at all.

For those who are skeptical of the ramifications, consider the words of prolific contemplative author Marcus Borg. At a seminar in which Borg was speaking, he told the audience of a time when he and his wife attended what he thought was an emerging church and in the end of the service the pastor talked about Christ dying on the Cross for man’s sins. Borg told the audience that that statement showed him that church was not an emerging church after all.* This is the reason why Brian McLaren (who openly resonates with Borg) loves Alan Jones’ book, Reimagining Christianity so much because its not based on the Gospel but based on panentheism and contemplative prayer.

These are serious and spiritually perilous times in which we live. It would be wise for Christian leaders to reconsider the path on which many of them are now treading.

Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Revelation 3:3

* Quote by Leonard Sweet from Quantum Spirituality, p. 76.
* Ray Yungen and a colleague were attending this seminar by Borg and relayed this story to Lighthouse Trails.

Related Information:

Track HR1913

Time Magazine on Rick Warren’s New Global Reformation and His PEACE Coalition

The End of the Word . . . As We Know It